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A psychogeriatrician's home visit to the zoo: a case report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2010

Edmond Chiu*
Affiliation:
Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Kate Bodley
Affiliation:
Melbourne Zoo, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Professor Edmond Chiu, Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, University of Melbourne, Normanby House, St. George's Hospital, 283 Cotham Road, Kew, Vic 3101, Australia. Phone:. + 61 3 9816 0485; Fax + 61 3 9816 0477. Email: e.chiu@unimelb.edu.au.

Abstract

Psychogeriatricians commonly undertake home visits, often under unusual and sometimes challenging circumstances. We report a home visit to a zoo to see an unusual case, a 49-year-old confused gorilla. A diagnosis of post-infarct delirium was made, subsequently validated by autopsy. We describe a primate observation scale which was used in the assessment of cognition this case, which may be helpful for use when cognitive assessment of primates is required.

Type
Case Report
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2010

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References

Fish, P. H., Carpenter, J. W. and Kraft, S. (2004). Diagnosis and treatment of a cerebral infarct in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 35, 203207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar